movie coverI'd rather be watching TV![IMDB link] [Netflix link]

LIMERICK REVIEW: There once was a brat named Dawn Davenport
who was about as attractive as a bloody wart.
Her boring life made her yawn,
so she ran away & became a pawn.
Eventually she wound up in court.

HAIKU REVIEW: John Waters movies
are fucking insanity;
insane craziness.

PEOPLE: Written and directed by trash king John Waters, starring many of his usual Dreamlanders: Divine (playing 2 roles), David Locary, Mary Vivian Pearce, Mink Stole, Edith Massey, Cookie Mueller, Susan Walsh, Susan Lowe, Channing Wilroy, Elizabeth Coffey, etc etc etc.

QUIRKS: Yet another utterly fucking insane and out-of-this-world early John Waters movie. Hyperbolic dialogue doesn’t even beginning to explain how ridiculous this entire movie is. Injecting liquid eyeliner? Wow. I can see how Cecil B. Demented (an incredible movie) came from the same director as this — Dawn’s “career” as a “crime model” reminded me a bit of Cecil B. Demented‘s “career” as a “film revolutionary”.

VISUALS: Divine is as fucking scary as ever as his/her character Dawn Davenport… And definitely not pleasing to look at (much like Edith Massey‘s teeth). An incredibly revolting person playing an incredibly revolting character who thinks that “she” is a “model”.

MORALS: This movie is utterly and completely lacking in any and all morals. Dawn Davenport is a filthy, disgusting, revolting, nasty creature — and this movie follows her life from the Christmas Day that she ran away from her home (leaving her mom pinned under the tree), up until the grisly end.

BAD STUFF: It’s low-budget bad-acting … But it’s done in an incredibly good way, due to John Water’s emerging brilliance. Instead of being cheesy, it’s ridiculous. So utterly ridiculously bad as to be very good. Movies like National Lampoon’s Class Reunion only wish they could be this bad!

CONCLUSION: Indeed, this movie was so “bad” and ridiculous that it was actually quite good. It’s like watching a train wreck. It’s one of the few movies from the 1970s that I can truly stand.

RATINGS: Netflix: 4/5 stars. IMDB: 8/10. A John Waters classic! This movie is UTTERLY FUCKING INSANE. The dialog is amazing!

RECOMMENDATION: If you made it through Pink Flamingos… You should definitely check this out. It’s actually not nearly as gross as Pink Flamingos, but just as utterly fucking insane. This is a great movie to be drinking during.

SIMILAR MOVIES: Pink Flamingos is similar in dialog delivery, acting, and dementedness. And Cecil B. Demented comes off like a super-polished A-movie version that re-uses the “revolutionary art” idea in Female Trouble.

MOVIE QUOTES:

1) Gator: Hey Taffy, baby, come suck your daddy’s dick.
Taffy: I wouldn’t suck your lousy dick if I was suffocating and there was oxygen in your balls!

2) Aunt Ida: Queers are just better. I’d be so proud if you was a fag.

3) Dawn Davenport: I’ve DONE everything a mother can do: I’ve locked her in her room, I’ve beat her with a tire iron. Nothing changes her. It’s HARD being a loving mother!

FRIENDS’ RATINGS: Becky really liked it. I think AE liked it too.

Mood: antici…pation
Music: The Church – Invisible